Singapore: a Global City

Global cities have become increasingly more popular over the past several years. They serve as busy sites of trade, steady workplaces, and overall international hubs. One must consider all aspects of a city’s well-being when deciding what type of urban area fits into this specific category. With a GDP of $2.8 billion and 100% urban development, Singapore is a city that is impossible to leave out on the list of what constitutes a metropolis.[i] The time they spent under British rule is what initially prompted the urbanization that led to the economic miracle we see today. They eventually became independent, and the government took extraordinary measures to ensure proper economic growth and modernization of their new city-state. This ultimately led to incredible manufacturing investments that heightened industrialization and attracted many foreign investors. Today, the high caliber of the society is reflected on its population by the demanding education and harsh laws. Singapore’s economic potential was introduced to the world while under British rule, however, it was not until after independence that its economic strategies, foreign relations and management of human resources proved it to be a world-class city. The United Kingdom’s use of Singapore as an entrepôt and their permission to allow Singapore to be mostly self-governed served as the fundamental building block to its rapid urbanization. In the 1800s, Singapore was one of the most popular entrepôts, which means it was a trading post in which materials could be imported and exported without taxes. This made it very attractive to merchants all around the world due to its “free-port status”[ii] and “strategic location.”[iii] Exporters who had been paying high taxes in Dutch-controlled ports began trading in Singapore instead for these reasons. Additionally, in 1896, “the opening of the Suez Canal . . . attracted even heavier traffic from Europe”[iv], and rapid commercial development allowed the city to grow and urbanize. It was at this time that an unprecedented amount of people started to build residence in this area, and its overall appeal drew in innumerable amount of trade in Singapore. Many industries, such as the automobile industry and the packing industry “demanded rubber from Southeast Asia and . . . had an urgent need for tin.”[v] As a result, Singapore’s trade network was able to successfully establish and grow, providing many new and different kinds of exports. Also during the United Kingdom’s rule on Singapore, they “permitted increasing degrees of internal self-government”[vi], which allowed the transition to independence to be a smooth one. This previous experience was crucial to the developing city-state because they were able to learn the basics about running their own economy and could jump right into the process of creating new policies and regulations. Therefore, it was ultimately Britain's policies and regulations that catalyzed Singapore’s urbanization and served as the platform for their economic boom. After independence, Singapore’s healthy government was able to develop strategic policies that allowed its society to undergo rapid industrialization and urbanization. The government believed that their sole focus should be to maintain and develop the impressive status of their economy. However, they were bombarded with many economic challenges after gaining independence. They faced high unemployment, zero natural resources, a small domestic market, and high dependence on entrepôt trade.[vii] [viii] In response to these issues, “pro-business, pro-foreign investment, [and] export-oriented economic policy framework”[ix] were all established with hopes to salvage and perpetuate their struggling economy. First, an import substitution strategy was put in place in order to suppress unemployment numbers and decrease foreign dependence.[x] Due to the fact that there were zero natural resources on the small island, this policy was...

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...posture. Thus, Singapore embarked on a process of globalizing its economy, its population, and its culture to make the nation relevant to the needs of the rest of the world. This approach is drawn very much from Singapore’s historical past as a fishing village and geographical entrepot, positioned as a natural point of trade between the East and West. However, contemporary globalizing strategies have become more than just responsive policy options but proactive initiatives to define the values of the nation. For example, the challenges the nation faced at its founding, including a confrontation with its formidable neighbor Indonesia, created a focused mindset of survival, with this value remaining prominent in public discourse today
As a result, a series of globalizing strategies were put in place long before globalization became a buzzword. Such strategies include establishing English as the language of politics, business, and education; building the economy through close cooperation with multinational corporations; importing popular culture from around the world, including the United States, Britain, Australia, India, Japan, Taiwan, and Korea; sending large numbers of Singaporeans to study abroad; and encouraging the immigration of large numbers of “foreign talent” to complement its only natural resource—its people. These strategies have largely paid off in terms of economic development and political stability.
In fact, by any...

...minister of Singapore after separation from Malaysia in 1965. Separation brought about various challenges. Singapore lost her primary hinterland as Malaysia erected trade barriers to reduce its dependency on Singapore. Another economic hinterland, Indonesia, restricted trade with Singapore due to its economic nationalization. Further, China was not dependable for economic growth as they were undergoing political changes. Even the British, who made up 20% of Singapore’s economy, left Singapore in 1968. In this hostile regional climate where uncertainties concerning the economy prevailed, S. Rajaratnam puts forth his vision, of a globalCity in 1972.
The purpose of his speech is to explain why independent Singapore had not crumbled as expected, but indeed succeeded. He tries to clear the uncertainties regarding economic prosperity. He champions the idea of embracing globalization and multinational corporations to attain economic success and sets direction for Singapore to become a globalcity.
It was viewed that a small city without natural hinterland, large domestic market and raw materials would crumble. It did affect, as entreport earnings declined from 1960 onwards. Despite this, Singapore’s GDP grew in this period. Some attributed this success to neighboring countries failure to realize their economic...

...to witness a Singapore of the 1950s-the British’s colonial port and a prosperous Singapore nowadays has to admire the rise of Singaporean as well as the wise leadership of the government. There is no doubt that the city-state of Singapore represents a remarkable success story that has placed the country among the developed nations. After its independence in the mid-1960s, Singapore had no more than a deep port. There are no fresh water, no hinterland; all nation’s area just limits in 700 square kilometer. The question made in everyone’s mind was how Singapore could survive with such obstacles after the British’s withdrawal rather than how Singapore could develop to become one of the top-class economies. In contrast of everyone’s thought, Singapore has swiftly moved ahead of all neighbouring countries in almost all fields, turning itself into Asia’s second-richest country in term of per capita income. How has Singapore done to attain such remarkable achivements? What will Singapore have to do to cope with emerging giants such as China, India? It is the content of this essay: SINGAPORE -THE WAY TO THE GLOBALCITY.
In this essay, it is inevitable to have some mistakes. Therefore, I hope you will excuse them and contribute to make the essay better.
I/. Singapore’s history...

...Singapore Population: 5.8 million Time Zone: UTC+8 Dialing code: +65 Currency: Singapore Dollar
Watch. Plan. Travel.
In order to see more and do more in Singapore, we highly recommend two unique cards that will help you enjoy the best attractions and, on top of that, stay within your budget. The SingaporeCity Pass will allow you free entry to the city’s best attractions. The Singapore Pass will help you enjoy a bundle of tours and attractions for your whole family. Check out both of these passes, as they can change your Singapore vacation completely!
Singapore is not all that big, but there are many hidden gems in it. We recommend spending one day doing some sightseeing and exploring the main areas of the city. You can take a guided tour, or perhaps board a “hop on hop off” bus, which will make stops at all the major attractions, ensuring that you won’t miss a thing. Looking for a unique way to spend a night in Singapore? If you travel with your family, you may want to visit the night safari. If you visit Singapore with your loved one, what about an unforgettable dinner on the Singapore Flyer, the absolute tallest Ferris wheel in the world?
Singapore has become one of the world’s top destinations for tourists. It may be small, but it is packed with an abundance of places and...

...Global Health Services – Singapore
Sarah Fong
NURS 03401 Community Health Nursing
Eileen Pummer RN, MSN, CPHQ
Suzanne Taylor RN, MSN
Rowan University
Abstract
This paper examines Singapore’s demographics that include the population breakdown, socioeconomic status (SES), and health indicators like costs for treatments, birth and mortality rates, and major health issues. Along with a discussion of health indicators, there is also a review of how Singaporeans view health, the financing of healthcare, and who provides the healthcare. The advantages of the Singaporean healthcare system are assessed as well as an analysis on areas that need improvement.
Demographics
The country of Singapore is located in Southeast Asia in between Malaysia and Indonesia and is comprised of an island and islets. It is roughly 275 square miles, which is the smaller than the city of San Diego. Around 1819, the British colonized the island and turned it into a major trading post between Malaysia, China, and India (Ministry of Communication and Information (MCI), 2009). Singapore became an independent nation in 1965. As of 2011, the Ministry of Communication and Information (MCI) stated that Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) totaled USD $327 million. The Ministry of Statistics, Singapore recorded 3.31 million people that were employed and a 1.9% unemployment rate in September 2012...

...NOTES PACKAGE WEEKS 2-6 JGI216H1 Urbanization
Lecture 1 Notes: Global Context of Urbanization What is urban : “The reorganization of human society from being predominantly rural and agricultural to being predominantly urban and non-agricultural” (Weeks, J. 2008).
Where do we draw the lines?     political boundaries economical boundaries daily urban system regions and mega-regions
Conceptual definition of Urban: “A spatial concentration of people whose lives are organized around non-agricultural activities” 1. Population size 2. Space (land area) 3. The ratio of population to space (density or concentration) 4. Economic and social organization Practical definition of Urban: With lack of available data and for expediency, urban is usually defined only by population size. (e.g. 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, or more) In reality, many different countries define “Urban” differently. And, it is hard to clearly discern between rural and urban. Examples of Different Urban Definitions The US:
-UA (urban area): a densely settled population of at least 50,000 people -UC (urban cluster): a densely settled population of 2,500-50,000 people Canada: - Urban place/area: a population of at least 1,000 concentrated within a continuously built-up area, at a density of at least 400/km2 - City: a place with at least 100,000 inhabitants Others: Singapore: a City state (100% urbanites)
Urbanization: Kingsley Davis Definition:...

...INTRODUCTION
We are in the possession of three documents: the first one is a text about Shanghai’s growth, the second one is a picture of Pudong, which is a state-level new area of Shanghai, China, located along the east side of the Huangpu River, across from the historic city center of Shanghai in Puxi. The third document is a table that represents traffic of the major ports in 2005. All these documents have one common point: they show us that Shanghai is considered a globalcity in the making. Globalcities can be defined by the role they perform in global economic, financial, cultural, transportation and political affairs. So to what extent can we say that Shanghai is becoming a globalcity? We will answer this question by showing the economic and infrastructural growth, the political growth and the cultural growth of this Chinese city.
I. Shanghai, a city with a major economic and infrastructural growth…
A. Economic features
* Doc 1: City lies at intersection of global trading routes (Heart of Yangtze river delta);
* Doc 1: Economic potential;
* Doc 1: Sustained and substantial econ. growth -&gt; landscape of vertical and horizontal expansion;
* Doc 1: economy is modernizing -&gt; ½ labor force work n the service sector + 36% are employed in industry;
B....